.11 Ni: 23, lOU;. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



39 



Growth of the Seed Bean Industry 



in Southern California 



A Slory of Forty Years 



l"roiu a contract calliii^^ lor tho de- 

 1' cry of 100 l)ushels, the seed l)oan 

 I i-incKS on the Pacific coast has yrown 

 ^ orders affffregating several niillioiis 

 (,i jiounds uf choice liand-jiicked seed 

 lians. To Henry I'isli Ix'loags the 

 lid it of inaugurating tiie great indus- 

 ti\ of growing seed beans in sonthcrii 

 ( Jifornia. Starting away biick in tlie 

 T'i's, Henry Fisli, senior niemlKM' of tlie 

 llmry Fish Seed Co., recently incorjx) 

 r.ted, planted the tirst crop of Lima 

 J '.cans to be sold for seed purposes, and 

 he has been in the business continu 

 (!iisly ever since, witnessing an infant 

 industry develop into a great liusiness. 

 The beginnings of the industry are 

 interesting; doubly so because they go 

 li;i<l\ to the ilays when the agricultural 

 |Mwsiiiilit ies of California were in the 

 c\|icrinH'ntal stage. Cold had lieen dis- 

 (•(i\ered some twenty years or more be 

 fere, but the dream of the golden bar 

 \c^ts that were likewise to attract 

 worldwide interest in California was 

 ciily Just beginning to take definite 

 iniiii in the minds of a few earnest work- 

 cis. In the agricultural and horticul- 

 tural world of California it was a period 

 of discovery and adaptation. New fields 

 of soil endeavor were opened up, and to 

 the faith aiul works of the pioneers we 

 owe much o1 our present (lay (le\elo]) 

 iMcnt. 



The Beginning 



I'lie growing of the Lima J-Jean as a 



•icld crop had its humble beginning in 



the year LS7L*. In the fertile Carpin- 



•cria \'alley one Robert McAllister 



"ied it as an experiment. It worked. 



I lie soil w.'is of virgin riidiness, the 



I' onths between seed time and liarvest 



ucre without rain, so no "poling" was 



' 'cessary and all danger of rotting done 



•vay with. Coming to Carpinteria al>out 



' lat time, Henry Fish became at once 



•crested in the new crop. In an east- 



' M state he had tasted the succulent 



uume and as a storekeeper had sold 



ickages of Lima Bean seed lo his cus 



niers, and his mind was (piick to grasp 



■e possibilities of bean growing under 



'■ seemingly perfect conditions met 



111 in tliis new country. 



D. M. Ferry is Interested 



Writing to D. :Nr. Ferry & Co., the 



•at seed house of D'etroit, whose see<ls 



had liandled in the Fast, lie secured 



contract to furnish them in the fall 



'h 1(1(1 busluds of seed beans. So 



'crested was the firm in the opening uji 



the new venture that 1>. M. Ferry vis 



•d in person the new field of operations. 



■id the totally different conditions 



'oier wlii(di the new croj) was to be 



lised aroused the keenest interest ;iud 



'iriosity of the seedsman. The faith 



'' Mr. l-'ish in the future of the Lima 



''fan never wavered, and his earlv 



"dgnient has been more than vindi- 



•■''cd t)y the test of years of growing 



""' J^ima Bean. In no other s])ot do 



'liOy grow under such ideal conditions. 



The result of the first year's venture 



was so satisfactory to both grower and 

 buyer that a second contract followed, 

 ;ind since then, for thirty-five years. 

 Henry I'ish has had among his uontracts 

 a yearly one from D. M. Fiury lic Co. 

 for seed beans. This is a high tribute 

 to the integritv of the seetls sent out 

 by -\lr. I'^isli from year to year. 



The Day's of Hard Labor 



The days of the first crops were in 

 the time when machines and lalior sa\- 

 ing ilevices for the ranch and ranch 

 work were but litth^ known. WIkmi dry. 

 the beans were placed in .an enclosed 

 corral. A \ a(picr() droxc a biiiudi of 

 wild ponies around on them to tram|i 

 them out, doing the W(U'k of the mod 

 ern threshing machine, and a hand fan 

 ning machine was used for claiming tlie 

 lieans. Methods of handling the beans 

 (dianged, but the same painstaking care 

 to produce dependable seeds that char 

 acterized the first crops raised by Jlenry 

 Fish was exercised year after year and 

 has become one of the cardinal j)rin- 

 ciples of the Henry Fish Seed Co. Per- 

 haps in no other business does the re 

 liability or dependability play so im 

 |iortant a ])art as it does in the seed 

 business. Cood and poor seeds ma.v not 

 look so dissimilar, and that is why the 

 integrity of the man behind the seeds 

 (.'ounts for so much. The natural ex 

 planation of the growth of the seeil 

 liean Ijusiness of Henry Fish is foiunl 

 here. 



A look at the different varieties of 

 beans is interesting. Of Lima iieans 

 alone the Henry l-'Hsli Seed Co. h;indles 

 some twenty or more v:iiieties, and they 

 handle a larger number of varieties of 

 Kidney Beans. Katdi variety has its 

 special points which differeiitiat(> it 

 from all others. A number of new \ ;i 

 rieties are of rt'cent introdiu'tion. and 

 mark an epoch making advaiuM' in bean 

 values. The Henry I'isli Seed < O. has 

 b(>en foremost in originating and intro 

 ilucing new and su]>eiior varieties. Now 

 the mere fact of introducing a new \ ;i 

 riety is not in itself ;i great achie\'e 

 ment. The new candi<late, to win ri^' 

 ognition and favor anil enjoy wide 

 spread jiopiilarity and sal(>, must lie ;iii 

 imi)rovenient o\(>r all others in it-- chiss 



type. 



Valuable New Sorts 



\or does the originating ot' a new 

 variet.\' come through luck or accident. 

 I'ew jM'ople realize that it often tak(>s 

 years of patient and int(dligent work to 

 l)roduce a new \;i riety of ^•allle. .\ 

 number of years ago Henry 1!. i'isli. 

 general manager of the new firm, while 

 removing strays and sports from the 

 growing crop, found sever.al jilants that, 

 from his expert knowledge of beans, 

 seemed to embcidy latent jiossibilities. 

 Fxperiments were made. A |irocess 

 of rigid rejection and s(d"ction took 

 jdace, and as a monument to his genius, 

 whicdi is "capacity for taking jiains.'' 

 three new and splendi<l types of Lima 

 Beans have lieen given to the world. 

 Burpee's ]mpro\(^d :iiiil I'oi'dhoid^ Bush 



Linias and the Carpinteria I'ole Lima 

 all originated on the trial grounds ot' the 

 Henry Fish Seed Co. A hint of tli(> 

 \alue of these new \arieties is gi\en 

 win n it is said that the liist carload of 

 1)111 j>ee's lmj>roved and JNu'dhook F>iin1i 

 Limas sent to the eastern seed iioiisi- 

 that bought them constituted the most 

 \'aluable carload of seed leans e\er 

 <hip{»ed from California- tli.at is to s;i\. 

 they were the highest prii'cd be;iii> esii 

 sent east from this coast. 



More Good Things in Prospect 



Some jiromising varieties .■iic now m 

 the development stage and will be iie.ard 

 from later, if jiast a«diie\cnieiits ot' t h(> 

 Henry ]''ish Seed < 'o. are any criterion. 

 On acc(nint of their success in produc- 

 ing valuable new x'arieties. eastern 

 seedsmen, when they lind what they 

 think will be t lu- start ot' an improved 

 variety, freipieiitly send if to the Henry 

 lisli Seed ( o. to be de\'c|opeil. 



Fvery precaution is takiui to jireser\i' 

 t\pes, even after they are established, 

 and even in fitdds of old and established 

 x'.arieties grown on contract for the 

 ileiirv l''isii Seed Co., tlie fields are gone 

 oxer during the growing season and in 

 ferior |)lants, sports, and beans of other 

 varieties weeded out. 



A Model Warehouse 



Last year this firm found their Iiiisi- 

 ness to be so much gr(\ater than tiieir 

 facilities for liandling it that a new 

 wartdionse was imperative. Their years 

 of familiarity witii the needs and re- 

 ijiiirements ()f tlie see<l business have 

 enabled the firm to bring to bear in the 

 new building a knowleilge of wartdionse 

 construction that has resulted in a seed 

 house that is a model of convenience 

 and which admits of th(> quickest dis- 

 patch in liandling flic se(>il ln'ans. In- 

 deed, there is not on the coast another 

 seed bean wareluuisc tliat embodies so 

 many features of merit. 



Personnel of the Fish'Firm 



An interesting feature of the new 

 lirm .just incorporated lies in the fad 

 that it is strictiv a family firm. Henry 

 I'ish is founder and president of the 

 new company. Two sons. Henry B. 

 I'isli, who is treasurer ami g-uieral man 

 ager. and Thomas .\. Fish, who is \ ice 

 ju'esident, have been brought U|i in the 

 luisiness and by heredity .and environ- 

 ment may be said to know beans. Henry 

 H. i'ish lias ch.arge of the warehouse 

 l)iisiiiess. and Thomas X. I'i>li manages 

 the seed farm. Hester S. I'l-li. who is 

 -ecri'tary. and .iulia l''ish. the ;i--sist;inf 

 secretary, .are meiiilers ol the new tirm 

 ;ind d.anghteis of the foiimbv. .Iiilictti^ 

 (i. Fish, the wife ol' the vcti ran sei (N 

 man. completes the list of st'^i klioliiers. 

 It has .always been the habi; ot' I lie>e 

 seedsmen to welcome visitors, .and i.j^l 

 ern seedsmen on their rounds of irop 

 inspection often slop (dV at < arpiii t ciia 

 .and are hosiiitably received. A v '^it to 

 th(> w.andionse in the fall .md winter, 

 when the liusy season is on. is an edu- 

 cating experience (piite worth while. 



